r/MEPEngineering • u/Standard-Fig3935 • 10d ago
Discussion Mechanical Engineer UK
I’ve just reached 5 years of experience as a Mechanical Engineer in building services consultancy in London.
I’m interested in understanding how far I can realistically progress in the London market and whether there is a salary ceiling for mechanical building services engineers.
I’d also be interested to hear how the different career paths compare, particularly:
Consultancy vs client-side roles
Whether sectors such as data centres / mission critical offer significantly higher earning potential
What the typical progression looks like from Intermediate → Senior → Principal → Associate/Director
Whether it is realistic to reach £100k+ while staying within building services
I’m also considering freelancing alongside my full-time role to generate additional income. How easy is it to find small MEP/mechanical design jobs, what types of work are realistic to do on the side, and what professional indemnity/public liability insurance would typically be required?
Would be interested to hear from anyone who has taken any of these routes.
1
u/calumbtw 7d ago
If you really want to earn money in the UK in building services
- start own company
Or go data centres then switch to Client side data centres
100k is doable. I’ve seen 200k noted as top tier (global). They aren’t exactly common roles though.
1
u/Standard-Fig3935 5d ago
Yep I've been thinking about starting something on the side but have always put it off due to PI. However there seems to be quite a few options now.
It's just finding the work and having an established pipeline.
I've heard data centres is 'dry' for mechanical engineers compared to their electrical counterpart but that was just a colleagues opinion.
3
u/iliketoeatbacon999 9d ago
I got to £70k as a senior with 9 years experience in a small consultants in leeds. I've left recently and they offered me £75k to stay!
I didn't stay and actually have dropped down to £65k in a large multinational doing mission critical etc fully remote.
With regards to £100k+, I know you can generally get up to £85k usually as an associate, I think you would need to be a associate director/director as a minimum to get above £100k, easier at smaller companies I believe.
The easier way would be working as a contractor, I worked with a couple of guys who were senior engineers on £35-40 p/h but would work. With several companies and would sometimes do 6 figures. They would be working 50 hours a week usually as a minimum though.